Today we’re going to start in the Book of Hebrews. It was 6 years ago that we started teaching Paul’s letters? We’ve been totally in Paul’s epistles now for a long time, and in the last lesson we finished up with Timothy and Titus. Now I think Hebrews also is an epistle of Paul, although it is not directed to the Gentiles or the Church, but rather it’s directed to Jewish believers. There has always been a lot of controversy over this letter as to its authorship, and as to its time of writing and so forth. And again I’m not a theologian, so I don’t have to get hung up on any of these big heavyweight arguments. I just tell you what I think it is, and I believe the Apostle Paul is definitely the author of the Book of Hebrews, and I’ll show you in a few moments why I’m quite adamant about that.

Secondly, I’ve always felt that it was one of his earlier letters, if not the earliest. I read something this past week confirming that, and that is in some of the earliest or ancient manuscripts of our New Testament, the Book of Hebrews followed I and II Thessalonians. Now everyone is pretty much agreed that the Thessalonian letters were the first of Paul’s writings, and so if Hebrews in the ancient manuscripts followed Thessalonians, then that falls right in line with what I’ve always thought, that it is one of his earliest letters.

Another thing I think we have to realize now as we get into Hebrews, is that there is absolutely nothing of Church language. In other words, you won’t find a Roman road to Salvation in Hebrews. There is not a Hebrews road to Salvation, so, "What’s the theme of the Book?" The theme of the Book of Hebrews is two fold.

1. We’re showing a constant comparison of how this economy now under Grace is so much better than anything that went before. And we’ll be looking for that over and over throughout this Book. We’ll see this is better! Yes, the law was good, but this is so much better.

2. More preeminent in importance is that Hebrews is going to point out Who Jesus Christ really is. He is God the Son, and we’ll emphasize that as well as we go through this letter.

So those are some of the things that we want to use as an introduction to this tremendous letter to the Hebrews, that it is not a book of Church doctrine, as you won’t find a single word in here about Salvation based on Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, or any reference to the Body of Christ, or any reference to faith + nothing as we see so often in Romans. Nor is it a Book of corrections and admonitions like the Book of Galatians is. So it’s just totally different. In fact, I’m going to compare this letter to the Hebrews with the Old Testament, and that’s the way I’m going to treat it.

Remember when I taught about the tabernacle, I pointed out that everything back there in Exodus that described the tabernacle - the gold, the silver, the brass, the wood, the linen, the purples, the red, and white, every jot and tittle of the tabernacle - was a picture of one way or other of Jesus Christ. Well the Book of Hebrews is going to do the same thing. It’s going to just show us what a tremendous important personage Jesus Christ really is. Remember over the years, I’ve referred to a gentlemen who came up to my ranch house one day, and asked the question, "Who in the world is Jesus Christ?" Well Hebrews is going to point it out very clearly.

Now I said in the beginning of my remarks that I was quite confident that the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Hebrews, and I use a comment from II Peter chapter 3 to prove that. We have to do everything as much according to the Book as we possibly can. I told someone on the phone the other day that had a question about something, that you have to remember, the Bible doesn’t tell us everything we’d like to know. "But the Bible does tell us everything that we need to know." So there are areas where we just simply have to say, "Well the Bible doesn’t tell us," and let it go at that.

But here in II Peter I think we have ample proof from the pen of the Apostle Peter writing to the Jewish community just shortly before he is martyred. Remember they’re both martyred close to the same time. I use these verses so often to emphasize Paul’s apostleship, but now I’m going to use them to emphasize Paul’s authorship of the letter of Hebrews.

So who is he addressing? Jews of the dispersion who had already been scattered away from their home area of Jerusalem and Judea. So now coming back to II Peter chapter 3, let’s finish our thought. Peter is letting them know that these people to whom he is writing had received a letter from the Apostle Paul. I read an article again the other day that all the Church fathers never were aware of any other letter that Peter could have been alluding to. This is the only one. I think it just makes all the proof in the world. Verse 15 again.

"As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; (these things which pertain to Salvation up there in verse 15) in which are some things hard to be understood, (even Peter at his late date had a very hard time comprehending these doctrines of Grace that had come from the Apostle Paul’s pen, but nevertheless, he is still agreeing, that) which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."

Now when you say the other Scriptures, after talking about Paul, what does it make them all? Scripture! So Paul’s letters, even by the inspiration of Peter’s pen, are still all Scripture. So if anyone ever tells you, "Well I don’t think much of Paul’s writing," then you just take them right to these verses. This is as plain as it can get that Paul was just as much a writer of the Word of God as Moses, Isaiah, or John, Peter or anyone else.

Now back to Hebrews chapter 1, and we find then that this letter was definitely written by the Apostle Paul, probably early on in his ministry, and the reason I say early on- let’s go to Romans 1:16, and that will confirm why I feel that this Hebrew letter had to be written before many of his other epistles.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it (the Gospel) is the power (remember this word power, because we’ll be referring to it as we teach. For this Gospel) of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; (now what is the process?) to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

Now wouldn’t it also make sense then, that it would be the same order in his epistles? He’s going to write an epistle to the Jews first, then epistles to the Gentiles. So now when you come back to Hebrews chapter 1, we probably won’t get further than the first word in this lesson. And what is the first word?

Do you see that? Now back in Hebrews, written in Hebrew, this term God is Elohim, and Elohim in the Hebrew was a plural word. Elohim when used with a small "e" it was translated gods, with a reference to the pagan gods, and it was a plural term. So elohim is not singular, but rather plural. So it gives rise of course to what we call a Triune God. Now I’m not going to use the word Trinity, because the first thing people call and complain about is, "Well the word Trinity isn’t in the Bible." Well I know that, because it’s a coined term, and one that everyone understands, so I won’t use it to satisfy those folks. But Elohim is a plural term for the Triune Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All three are co-equal, in that term Elohim, that Triune Godhead!

Now this Godhead was all involved in creation, but when we get to the New Testament we find that the second Person of this Triune Godhead, "God the Son" steps outs and becomes then the Creator! We looked at those Scriptures when we taught from Genesis, and I guess we’d better do it even when I teach from Hebrews. So here in Genesis 1:1, the Triune God is reckoned as the Creator, but now jump up to John’s gospel chapter 1, to see that God the Son was the One Who did the creating. So this Triune God designated the work of creation to the Communicator, and we see that here in John chapter 1.

"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, (the Triune God, but the same God) who created all things by Jesus Christ:"

Do you see how plain that is? Sure the Godhead was involved, all Three of them. The Elohim of Genesis 1:1. But the Son steps out and speaks the Word and communicates to the nothing that was there, and out came creation of the universe. Now let’s come over to Colossians chapter 1, where Paul makes it even so much plainer. And let’s just drop in at verse 12, so we’re sure who we’re talking about. And Paul writes:

"Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet (or prepared us) to partakers of the inheritance (we’ll be looking at that word also in Hebrews) of the saints in light: 13. Who (speaking of God the Father) hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath (already) translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (we’ll also chase that word down from Genesis through Scripture, the word Son after a while) 14. In whom (that is in the Son) we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (now here comes the part about creation) 15. Who (speaking of the Son) is the image of the invisible God,"

Now what does that mean? This Triune Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was never visible. The Godhead was an invisible Spirit, and it operated in the invisible. But when the time came it was God the Son Who stepped out and became then the visible manifestation of all three. That’s why in John 14, when Philip said, "Show us the Father and it suffice us." What did Jesus say to Philip? "If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father!" Why? Because Jesus was the manifestation of the invisible Godhead. Now read on in verse 15.

And consist means, "held together." My, the world today knows nothing of this. For the average citizen of this world, Jesus Christ is just a cuss word. He’s just somebody to blaspheme, He’s someone to ridicule, but oh, one day, the world is going to stand before Him and they’re going drop to their immortal knees, and they’re going to recognize that He was indeed the Creator of everything - never lose sight of that!

But even Revelation says, "Jesus Christ was the Creator of everything." I can never emphasize that enough because so few people realize it. My, I’ve had people write and tell me, that they had been in church all their lives - many who had been Sunday school teachers for over 20 years - and they never knew that these verses were in their Bible. But here they are just as plain as day. Listen, this is what makes our Gospel of Salvation head and shoulders above any religion in the whole wide world. There is not a religion on this planet that has the Creator God as their Saviour as we have. That’s why we can express this with so much confidence. We’re not putting our faith in some dead God, or some idol. We’re not putting our faith in some far flung philosophy, but rather we’re putting our faith in the visible manifestation of the invisible God. And one day we’re going to see Him face to face, and we’re going to be with Him the Scriptures say, for all eternity.

I’ve made reference to this before; it’s amazing how the world will just gather by the millions to get just a glimpse of some famous world personality, whether he be a politician, religious leader, or athlete or whatever, and will just about do anything to get just a little glimpse, and then they use this Person, our Lord and Saviour, as an object of ridicule. They use the Creator of everything as a cuss word, and it is so disheartening, for those of us who believe. And we can see from the Word of God that God the Son stepped out of the invisible Godhead because then the Communicator to whatever it took to bring all the things of the universe into being. So reading all of verse 1 in Hebrews chapter 1.

So in our next lesson, we’re going to take a look at why Paul admonishes us to study the Old Testament. It’s just like the Book of Hebrews, there’s not a Roman Road to Salvation in the Old Testament. There’s not a plan of Salvation for us in the Old Testament, there’s nothing of the Gospel of Grace in the Old Testament - but we study it, and we rest on it because it’s the building block that God has laid down just like a secular education. My, I’ve used this example many times; how far would a young person get if all of a sudden without any previous education in grade school or high school, you plunk him down in a calculus class at the university? How long would he last? Not more than 5 minutes. Why? He has not had the building blocks of education.

We started the last program in the Book of Hebrews, and I’m going to keep repeating some of these introductory remarks. So remember that Hebrews was written to Jewish people. Hopefully, most of them were believers, but also a lot of them were still on the fence; they just couldn’t turn their back on Judaism, and the Law. They were also probably having some problems understanding Who Jesus of Nazareth really was, and so this Book is written primarily to lift Who the Son really was and is in the overall working of God.

Also, remember, it’s not a Book necessarily for Church doctrine, nor a Book where you will find the Gospel of Salvation. There are not admonitions to straighten up and come out of Law and legalism like you have for example in the Book of Galatians. There are not other stipulations for corrections in the Christian experience like you have in the Books of Corinthians. But rather this letter was uniquely written to these Jewish people who were having problems turning their backs on their past.

So now I think we’re ready to go on into verse 2. In the last program we showed how that God, the Triune God, was the One Who was instrumental in everything that was created. But we also showed from the various Scriptures it was always God the Son Who was given credit for the actual calling forth of everything that was created. Now before we go into verse 2, let’s go ahead and finish verse 1. We read it at the end of the last program, but I didn’t make any comment.

Now what’s he referring to? The Old Testament! And before we go back for a moment to the Old Testament I want you to stop in Romans chapter 15, where I’m going to use a verse for the basis of teaching the Old Testament. Because like I’ve already said with regard to Hebrews, there’s no plan of Salvation as such in the Old Testament. There’s also no Church doctrine found in the Old Testament. It was a secret that God had not yet revealed. But that doesn’t mean we throw the Old Testament away or ignore it. No, we study it and rest on it for this reason.

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime (back in the Old Testament) were written for our learning,…"

Remember in our last program, I said, "How in the world could you take a kid that had never had grade school arithmetic, nor high school math, and then all of a sudden have him attend a university level calculus class? Why he’d be lost immediately." Well it’s not that much different with the Word of God. If you haven’t got an understanding of how all of this came about, it’s pretty hard to just step in and say, "Yeah, I can believe that." But I don’t think God expects that, so we use the Old Testament over and over as a background for our New Testament teachings. Now we’re going to look at how the prophets spoke of these things.

So I’m going to take you all the way back to Genesis chapter 3, and we’re just going to take a run up through the Old Testament as to how many times even the Old Testament writers made a reference to the Son. A lot of people think He’s just a New Testament invention. No, No, No, God the Son was already evident throughout the Old Testament. This passage we’re going to look at here in Genesis is right after Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit, and they are now a fallen race. But God comes right back immediately with a promise of a redeemer. That of course is going to be in the Person of the Son. We always call this the beginning of that line of the Redeemer that will culminate with the coming of Jesus of Nazareth in Bethlehem.

"And I will put enmity between thee (Satan) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; (which is a reference to Christ when you go to Galatians) it (the Seed of the woman) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

Which of course was a reference to God the Son at the crucifixion and resurrection - in particular defeated all the power of Satan. Now I’m going to bring you all the way up to Psalms chapter 2. Now this was written by David about 1000 B.C. And here I’m just going to use verse 7, because I just want to show how the Son has been constantly referred to all through our Bible. This is not just a New Testament thing, but rather it’s all of Scripture.

Like I said in the last lesson we’re going to look at that begotten part at a little later time this afternoon. So from Psalms chapter 2, I think we can go all the way up to Isaiah chapter 9, and we’ll jump in at verse 6. Now remember this is a Bible study and we’re not trying to lecture through these things, but rather we’re just comparing Scripture with Scripture to see how God spoke of the Son even in the prophets.

"For unto us (Israel) a child is born, unto us (Israel) a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, (see how plain all of this is? The prophets are speaking of the Son in this way) The everlasting Father,…"

Remember I said in the last lesson, "What did Philip ask in John 14? ‘Show us the Father and it suffices us.’" And what was Jesus answer? "Philip, have you been so long time with me, and yet hast thou not known, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father." Well here it’s laid out in the Old Testament, that God the Son would be called The Mighty God, The everlasting Father,

Well now let’s just go on up to the Book of Daniel chapter 7. Now of course we’re looking at an end-time scenario, but nevertheless, it’s still in the prophets, and it’s still Old Testament.

"I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14. And there was given him (the Son) dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."

Now then, let’s just come on up into Matthew chapter 1. And as you know, I look at the Four Gospels of course as an extension of the Old Testament. Because it’s still all Jewish, it’s still under the Law, and we’re going to show the same thing, even in the Four Gospels.

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." Now let’s see how Luke chapter 1, treats it. Oh, my goodness, I don’t even know where to come in. I guess we’ll start with verse 30.

"And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus." Now come on down to the last part of verse 35.

So you see this is all part and parcel of the theme of Scripture introducing us to the Son. Now in fulfillment of what we just read in Genesis 3:15, let’s go to Paul’s Book of Galatians chapter 4, and look at verse 4. Now I hope this isn’t just an exercise in futility, I hope you’re seeing how the theme all the way from Genesis has been introducing us to this Person of the Godhead that is called the Son.

"But when the fullness of the time was come, God (the Triune God) sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law."

What did He send forth? His Son, and He was made under the Law of Moses. Well I guess we could even look at some other verses, even in Paul’s writings, but this is how the Old Testament and the Four Gospel accounts, as well as Paul’s letters, are referring to this Person of the Godhead then, that we have to lift up as the Son. The Son is unique in that role of the Godhead. Now I’m going to take you on into verse 2 of Hebrews chapter 1. The same God, the same Triune Father, Son, and Spirit that spoke to the fathers concerning the Son:

Now I’m going to throw a curve at you. The first time I read that verse sometime ago, I couldn’t quite fathom it. And it will take a long time to really have an impact on you. But in that verse 2, the word "his" has been added by the translators, have you noticed that? I never did for years and years. That word "his" is not in the original, and neither is there an article in the Greek, so the Greek reads like this.

You’ll probably say, "Now that doesn’t sound right." Well it does after you really start thinking about it. Because you see, Son by itself can be a title. How many fathers haven’t you heard instead of calling their son by his first name, what do they call him? "Come on son, let’s do this or that." Son becomes his title, and that’s the way I’m beginning to look at this.

The title! And the emphasis has to be just the way I’m putting it. Now let’s go back and see if we can pick up a little bit by that. So come all the way back to the Book of Acts, when Christ was dealing with the Apostle Paul. I think a good place would be Acts chapter 22.

And while you’re looking that up I’m going to put something on the board about another phrase in that verse, concerning "the last days." This usually shakes up people also. When the Scripture speaks of the last days, we’re speaking of His first advent. The three years of His earthly ministry, His crucifixion, His burial, His resurrection, and His ascension back to glory, as you see in Psalm 110:1. So all of that which took place in that first advent is considered in Scripture as "the last days."

Now I know that sounds confusing at first, but you see this is the only thing that the Old Testament looked forward to, that, after His ascension, then would come the 7 years of Tribulation, and then He would return and set up His Kingdom. So, this first advent then according to the Old Testament accounts, was the last days. Also remember that Paul is in this last days period of time. It was just a matter of years from the crucifixion until he begins his ministry. So Paul, too, is considered part of the last days, because they had no idea that there would be 1900 + years of the Church Age. That was completely unknown to the Old Testament writers. So they just spoke of it over and over as the "last days."

Now here’s where I think we can jump in now and see various ways that the Son spoke now in these last days. Paul has now been out among the Gentile world, establishing his little congregations of Gentile believers, and has come back to Jerusalem, and he’s always having a heavy heart for his kinsmen according to the flesh, the Jewish people. Here again Paul goes before this great multitude of Jews to try to convince them that he wasn’t just a renegade, he wasn’t an imposter to the truth, he wasn’t a heretic, but rather he was proclaiming everything that the Old Testament had prophesied, and that Christ had fulfilled. So he comes back to Jerusalem, and he’s in the Temple. Now verse 17.

Now this was unheard of! A lot of people just can’t get that through their heads, and I know they can’t. They can’t believe that Jesus never had a ministry to the Gentiles. Someone was just sharing with me that in their Sunday school material last week, there was something about Jesus going to Gentiles. No He didn’t go to Gentiles, and He was careful that He never did, except in those 2 exceptions, because this mission was left to the Apostle Paul to take care of. So from the words of the Son, what did He say?

That was totally unheard of, that was a whole new beginning. Now let’s come on over to the Book of Galatians chapter 1, and let’s just jump in at verse 11.

"But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, (by man) but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."

What does that mean? The Son spoke to the Apostle Paul. The Son was not speaking through the prophets, but rather through this apostle. And it is the Son Who is now speaking. Now come on over to the Book of Colossians chapter 2, and to pick up the flow, let’s pick up at verse 8. Now remember as Peter admonished us, that the Apostle Paul’s writing is Scripture, it’s the Word of God. And you can just sink your teeth into it and rest on it. So Paul writes:

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9. For in him (in Christ, in the Son) dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."

Isn’t that amazing? And oh, that’s hard for people to see. How can it be? Because He was manifested in the flesh as God, and He went to the cross as God. How many people realize that the hill on which He was crucified was of His creation? How many people realize that the wood of the cross on which He was nailed, He created that tree. How about the Romans that drove the spikes, He created them. He’s the Creator of everything, and oh it’s so hard for people to see this, and yet He has spoken from that ascended place in glory now through this apostle, who is lifting Him up in the Book of Hebrews now as "Son."

Now coming back to Hebrews chapter 1 for just a little bit. So this same God that spoke in the Old Testament, this same God is now speaking through "Son," His title. And we have to understand Who He is. He’s not just the carpenter’s son, He’s not just Someone Who was martyred, He’s not Someone Who simply wasted His life and was crucified, but rather He was the Eternal Creator, Son! And in another lesson we’re going to see how that when He was raised from the dead, He just literally exploded with power, the likes of which the universe has never seen. Even the power of creation does not compare with the power of His resurrection. And oh, let’s never lose sight of that. Now let’s just finish the program in verse 2. So this same God Who spoke through the Old Testament prophets:

With Christ’s first advent, His suffering, His death, His burial, His resurrection, and His ascension is the One Who is speaking us today!

Now as most of you know we’re just hopefully a teaching ministry. It’s amazing how simple the Word of God really is. It’s not all that difficult, if you just simply follow the Scripture as it unfolds, and don’t let tradition sway you. Now we’re going to begin again in Hebrews chapter 1, and we’re still in verse 2.

"Hath in these last days (that is the period of Christ’s first advent. Those were the last days according to all the Old Testament prophecies) spoken unto us by his Son, (remember there is no "his" in the original as we spoke of in the previous lesson. So it should read, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by) Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,…"

Now just stop for a moment. I think we’re all guilty of just reading so fast, that we don’t read. What does it mean to be appointed heir? Well, they get everything. You know we like to read of the heir of some wealthy corporation, or the Vanderbilt family, or the Rockefeller’s and we’ll read of their great wealth, and it always says, "They’re the heir of so and so fortune." So we’re well acquainted to what it is to be an heir, but you see the Triune God again, the Father, Son, and the Spirit, have in unison made the Son the Heir of everything. Now let’s go back to the Book of Philippians chapter 2, and this again says it all in a different light than even Hebrews.

I’m going to keep stressing that Hebrews is written with the idea of showing the Jewish people that Jesus of Nazareth was not just a martyr. He was not just a prophet, but rather He was God the Son! He was the Creator of everything. So here in Philippians chapter 2, Paul, I think covers the whole realm of Christ’s coming and what He accomplished. Verse 5:

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6. Who, being in the form of God,…" Remember what the Scripture says in John 1:1?

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." So this same Jesus, the Word in John 1:2, the Christ:

"And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, (Rome didn’t humble Him, the Jewish leaders didn’t humble Him, but rather He humbled Himself,) and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

Now, we all have our pet ideas of how we can picture some of these things, but the one that is freshest on my mind, is when they were in the Garden of Gethsemane, and when Peter finally saw what they were trying to do to his Lord, what does Peter do? Well he draws his sword that he was carrying, and cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest who name was Malchus. Well was that in agreement in the mind of Christ? No the Lord wasn’t fighting to protect Himself, and to show Peter how completely wrong he was, the Lord put Malchus’ ear back on miraculously. And it was only to show Peter, "Listen, we’re not fighting against this with weapons. I’m not trying to avoid the cross." So He became obedient, and as He said Himself He could have called down 12 legions of angels, and they would have come to His rescue, but He chose not to.

Now where it comes to heir-ship we can’t leave out our own role. We as believers are also called heirs, and we’ll find that in Romans chapter 8. My, this should be enough to inflate everyone of us to where it’s almost hard for us to stay earth bound, because this is our prospect. This is what’s coming! This is why Paul says, "suffering is nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed to us."

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (you don’t have to wonder if you are one of God’s children if you have believed Paul’s Gospel in your heart for Salvation) 17. And if children, then heirs; (just like in an earthly family. The child is the heir of all of the father’s wealth. So we’re) heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;…"

Now I know that’s unbelievable, but that’s the prospect. Christ is the heir of everything that’s ever been created or ever will be, and we in turn are joint-heirs with Him. My, isn’t that enough to just shun the things of this world for a little while? And the world thinks we’re missing it. Well, I’ve got news for them, we’re not missing anything, but rather they are. They’re missing everything, because the world is nothing but a pigpen by comparison to the glory that will be revealed to us.

Now let’s come back to Hebrews again to chapter 1. I was just talking with someone the other day that said the Bible doesn’t tell us a lot of information on our eternal state. We really don’t know how we’re going to function or what we’re going to be doing. Oh, we can speculate, but we just really don’t know; but what do we know? It is going to be so fabulous that language could never express it. It is going to be so glorious, and so pleasurable and it will be for all eternity. Not just for 70 or 80 years, but for eternity. So God:

"Who (speaking of Son) being the brightness of his glory,…"

Whose glory? The Godhead. The whole Triune God! Now we got just a little glimpse of that back in Matthew chapter 17 so let’s look at it. This is just a little window that God gives us from time to time. But this little glimpse should be enough to make our hearts leap, because we’re going to be partakers of this in the full one day. And we think we’re getting close to that day. My lands when I read and when I hear what’s going on today, it just can’t be much longer. The technology that is exploding so far even as the military is concerned. Why it would be enough to make the masses panic I would think, if they knew what our military already has. Not just on wishful thinking, but what they already have.

Then I was reading an article yesterday about the gross, vulgar, immorality among our 12 and 14 year-old school kids. It just scares you to your socks what’s coming - but on the other hand it encourages us that, as believers, one day soon we will get a full view of this glory. Not just a glimpse of it, but rather we’ve going to be in it. Here is just that little window in Matthew chapter 17.

"And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up unto an high mountain apart, (from all the rest of the activity. Even from the other nine) 2. And (Jesus) was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light."

Now look, we can’t look on the sun without being blinded. And I imagine that somehow or other the three were protected from it, or they too would have been blinded as Saul of Tarsus was on the road to Damascus. But here He was transfigured before, and suddenly that lowly Jesus of Nazareth Who had been walking those dusty roads of the Nation of Israel is transfigured. And He does shine like the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

Now again, we can’t comprehend the brightness of that kind of light. Now you all know of the experience of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. I think it was that same light that just literally blinded him, and scarred his eyes when he was confronted with that light from the Person of the Son. Now coming back to Hebrews chapter 1. So the Son, the One Who had walked the earth, had humbled Himself to be crucified and slain, and as He said on the cross, "It is finished!" And nothing else can be added to it. Nobody can put their fingers to the work that Christ accomplished, because it’s all done.

And as I pointed out when I taught back in Genesis, how many of those three entities can anyone of us see? None of them! Nobody can take a mind and lay it on an examining table, and look at it. It can’t be done, because it’s invisible. Nobody can take your will and examine it, as it’s impossible. Why? It’s invisible. Nobody can take the seat of our emotion and lay it out to be examined, because it, too, is invisible. And yet those are the three things that God is made up of, as well as His created beings.

Again when we taught back in Genesis I mentioned more than once, go through the Scriptures and you’ll find that God the Father has mind, will and emotions. God the Spirit also has mind, will and emotions. And we know God the Son has mind, will, and emotions. And that’s what makes them three distinct Personalities. But you can’t examine anyone of those three. So man was literally created an invisible creation, patterned after the invisible Spirit God. But in order for man to function in creation, we know God put the invisible man into a visible body.

And that had to be, because all of creation in basic science, is again made up of three things. "Matter, time, and space!" Take any one of those away and you don’t have a universe. It’s just plain and simple isn’t it. Matter – a star, a moon, a person. We are matter moving through time, in space, and that’s creation! So God took this invisible part of us and placed it in a body. And the same way with Himself. When He came and He placed that Spirit being, the very mind, will, and emotion of the Son in a body, He became then the visible manifestation of the invisible God. This is why we maintain then that the human being is eternal, whether he is lost or saved, he’s going to live some place for eternity, because God’s eternal, and man was created in God’s image, in sphere of the eternal.

"(The Son) Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power,…"

Now we won’t go back and look up Colossians again, but you remember in the first program when we were in Colossians chapter 1, where it said, "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." Everything in the universe is held together by the power of the Word of Christ! And if He should ever relinquish that power, the universe would go into fission, and would utterly be burned up, which will probably happen one day, just before we get the new heaven and new earth. But nevertheless, everything is held in control by the Word of Christ’s power. Now reading on in verse 3. And when was that power exercised?

"And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the father, (through the prophets) 33. God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." Now here is where we get the Scriptural definition of the only begotten Son of God.

"Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; (here it comes in verse 4). And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness, (and how was that power executed?) by the resurrection from the dead:"

Always remember when Paul speaks of the power of God unto Salvation, what is he referring to? The power of His resurrection! At that time, Christ overcame all the forces of Satan, and He became the epitome of the Creator God, and it was that power that lifted us out of our deadness, and out of our sins, and that’s why we have to use His resurrection as part and parcel of our Gospel!

Now as we begin this study, we’re going to finish verse 3 before we go on, and we were in the very last part of the verse when we had to stop in the last lesson. But let’s read the complete verse.

"Who (speaking of the Son in verse 2) being the brightness of his glory, (something that is beyond our understanding.) and the express image of his person, (and as we saw in the Book of Colossians, He is the visible manifestation of the invisible God) and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, (had finished the work of the cross, His death, His shed blood, His burial, and His resurrection. and when He had finished the work of the cross, He) sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;"

Now I’m always reminding people not to carry your imagination too far. Don’t just picture Jesus Christ as sitting there on a little chair, and God the Father up here on a big fancy throne, because that’s not exactly what we’re supposed to realize. Remember, as the priest of Israel, back in the Old Testament economy, they never sat down. There were no chairs in the Tabernacle or the Temple. Their work went continually without ever sitting down, because it was an endless job to be constantly interceding for the sins of Israel. It was simply unending! But you see, when Christ finished the work of the cross, it meant that His priesthood had also ended, and so He could sit down, and that’s what you have to understand. It’s a symbolic thing more than anything else that His work of redemption and work of intercession was now finished.

That’s why I’m almost screaming that Salvation is by faith, and faith alone in that finished work of the cross. Listen, you can’t add to it, and you can’t take away from it. See that’s why Paul puts such an anathema on those who would adulterate the Gospel of Salvation, by adding something that we might consider harmless in some of the deeds of the Law. But Paul says, "If you’re going adulterate my Gospel, then you’re under the anathema of God." And why not, because He had finished it completely. He suffered, He died, He shed His blood, and He arose from the dead. So how in the world can men dare to add to that for Salvation? So here’s the whole idea that He had finished it, He now presented Himself in heaven as our High Priest, and He could sit down, and He never again had to do the work of a priest. Now let’s see what Paul says about it back in Ephesians chapter 1, and verse 20. And again, I’m going to come up to verse 19 because of that word "power." Every time you see that word "power," you just stop and read it slowly and digest it.

The only criteria for Salvation under Paul’s Gospel is to believe it with all our hearts. That power is released when we believe. And it’s according to the working of his mighty power, as we showed in the last program and that power was exercised at His resurrection.

"Which (that is the mighty power) he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, (remember my closing remarks of Romans 1:4? What is it but that it was the power of God when he raised Christ from the dead? Here it is again.) and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places."

It was finished! No more priestly work needs to be done. It’s all finished. And we are part and parcel of that power. Now his position at the Father’s right hand is exemplified in verse 21.

"Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, (and again I’ll go back to the power above) and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:"

And not only in this world, but even in all eternity to come. There will never be a name that will match the name of Christ, God’s Son. Now let’s come back to Hebrews once again. And so after finishing the work of redemption to which no man dare add a thing, he could sit down and proclaim that everything was done that needed to be done to bring about man’s Salvation. Now let’s go down to verse 4 and you remember when I introduced Hebrews I made the statement that throughout the book of Hebrews we’re going to be running into a constant comparison of that which was good, but now we’ve got something far better. And here we have the first instance. God the Son having the finished the work of redemption, having set down at the Father’s right hand:

"Being made so much better (underline that word "better" every time we come across it, and I think there will be 11 or 12 of them in the book of Hebrews.) than the angels, as he hath by inheritance (we covered that in the last program) obtained a more excellent name than they." Even the two crowning angels of Michael and Gabriel can’t come close to the power and majesty of the Son, Jesus the Christ. Now verse 5 and here is the argument.

We covered that in the last program, that the only begotten Son of God is a reference to His resurrection. Never to Bethlehem, because He was not a begotten, he was simply brought about by an act of God. It was not a procreation between a man and a woman, and God Himself overshadowed Mary and it was not an act of procreation. So that is not what begotten is talking about. The only begotten Son of God is His resurrection. Now verse 5.

Now again, that does not imply that God the Father was here first and then came God the Son and then the Spirit. No way!! They have been equal in all eternity passed. They are equal in everything, even today. And everything that was accomplished by Christ on the cross was also attributable to the glory of the Father. Now verse 6.

"And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world (the Son) he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him."

Now remember those verses in Philippians we looked at in our last program, when Christ left glory, was born of the virgin and became the Jesus of Nazareth in His earthly ministry, He never gave up His deity. Now He laid aside His glory, but He never stopped being God. And there is no room for argument. And so even though He did lower Himself below the angels in order to take on human flesh, yet in His power and in His majesty, He never stopped being God. Now that is the reason for His miracles. Why in the world when the Sea of Galilee was raging and billowing and the little ship was about to sink, and the disciples were all shook up and fearing for their lives, they went below and told the Lord, and what did He do? He merely stepped out and spoke and said, "Peace be still." And just that quick everything was quiet. And what did the disciples say? "What manner of man is this that even the wind and waves obey his voice?" Well, they had a hard time, too, recognizing Who He really was.

And so this is what we have to be constantly reminded of, that as He proved through His miracle working powers in His earthly ministry, He showed that He never stopped being God. And even though the angels were powerful and they had glory, yet it was nothing compared to His. Now verse 7 and this might answer some questions concerning us today.

The question comes periodically, do we believe in angels? Well, of course I believe in angels because the Bible teaches them. Now, we do not have their manifestation in miraculous ways as we did in the past. They don’t appear to us. In fact, I tell everybody when they talk about some of these things, what would we do today if you’re driving home on a dark night and all of a sudden there would be 8 or 10 angels standing on the road? Have you ever thought about that? How would you handle it? I think it would drive most of us almost to the loony bin, wouldn’t it? We’re not ready for something like that. Angels haven’t appeared in that form since almost the apostolic days and we’re not supposed to be looking for angels. But, that doesn’t mean we don’t believe that they are real.

I personally think that we probably have a guardian angel. I like to think that every one of us does. I can’t prove it from Scripture. This is probably as close as you can get that angels are God’s ministers of fire. And they watch over the believer. But that’s as far as I can go with it. Paul teaches nothing concerning angels except that we’re not to enter into it as a form of false worship. That’s back in Colossians. We might as well go back and look at it so you’ll know what I’m talking about. Come back with me to Colossians chapter 2 and verse 18. And this is about as close as Paul ever gets to teaching concerning angels. So we dare not go beyond what the Scriptures permits us to go.

We can certainly realize that they’re God’s ministers, they’re spirit beings, and we like to think that they watch over us, especially the ones who believe. But on the other hand we have to be careful that we don’t step into territory where we don’t belong. Now let’s look at Colossians chapter 2:18. Where Paul writes:

See there’s the warning! Don’t get enraptured with angels. Now the last few Christmases I think we have almost been deluged in our department stores with angels. Every place you look is angels, but I can’t agree with that, because we’re not to have that much doing with angels. So looking at that Scripture again:

It’s a warning, so that’s as far as I go concerning angels. Now the truth of them in the Old Testament economy, of course there were many instances. My, angels are part and parcel of the Old Testament. We know Jacob certainly saw the angels. We know the three angels came to Abraham’s tent. We know the shepherds at the birth of Christ saw many angels. Peter had an angel release him from prison, and those are valid accounts, but when we get to the Church Age, Paul never teaches us anything concerning the activity of angels or demons.

Do you realize that the Apostle Paul gives us absolutely no room, or instructions for casting out demons. I mean not a word! When I get a question concerning demons, I always tell people, "Well lead that person to Christ, and that will take care of his demon problem!" And folks that’s as far as we can go, because we have no permission or commandment in this Age of Grace to practice exorcism. But we can bring that person to a knowledge of Salvation, and as the Holy Spirit comes into the life of that person at Salvation, the demonic things, if they’re there, will leave.

Now back to Hebrews chapter 1, and verse 8. Remember angels haven’t obtained to this level, as great as they are, and as numerous as they are, and as powerful as they are, yet they never come close to the power of the Son!

"But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O (what’s the next word?) God, is for ever and ever:…"

I’ll never understand how people can reject Christ the Son as God. Especially when they can look at verses like this and say, "That isn’t what it means," or "I don’t believe that." Well I have a hard time contemplating that. But to the Son, God Himself says: "

And a scepter of course denoted kingship, or royalty. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom, and He will be King over all. You know the verse in Revelation, so let’s go back and look at it. Oh, the day is coming when this will take place. But also keep in mind that I’m always stressing that we in the Church Age do not address Him as our King. Christ is the Head of the Body of which we as believers are joint heirs with Him. Now that doesn’t take away this which is in Revelation chapter 19 and verse 16. This is still future, and absolutely I believe it, but that doesn’t mean He’s the King over the Church tonight. But rather He’s the Head of the Body which we are a direct inheritance of. We’re joint-heirs with Christ, but look what Revelation says when He finally returns at His second coming.

Now that’s the epitome of His title, and He’s going to exercise that power over His Kingdom! And that’s what the Psalmist is saying back here in Hebrews 1:8.

This 1000 year Kingdom that Christ will one day establish on the earth, where Israel will be the crowning Nation of the nations. Now verse 9. This is all to elevate our understanding of the Son.

"Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity;…" Now listen that’s the mind of God, even for us under Grace. Don’t ever think for a minute that God winks at iniquity, because God hates it! God hated it in the Old Testament economy. He hated it during His earthly ministry, but in Grace He is so willing to forgive, but that doesn’t mean that He doesn’t hate sin.

"Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God (again the Triune God) even thy God, (in which the Son is a part) hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Here again He has been exulted. And as God the Son, every knee will one day bow before Him. Now verse 10.

When I read verses like this, I can’t help it, but I always have to run back to Job 38 and I just get such a thrill out of those two chapters because I hope I’m not doing Job an injustice, but I have to think that Job was full of pride. I mean, he was a good man, God had blessed him, he had wisdom, but I think he was proud, and I think this is why God was dealing with him. The reason I’ve come to this conclusion is the statements in Job 38. Now if I’m wrong I may someday have to admit to Job himself, but we know that Job had to be dealt with for some reason or other. Once he realized that he was nothing in God’s eyes then God could restore him seven fold. But I think you’ll see what I’m talking about here in Job 39. And let’s start with verse 1.

"Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, (now remember when we have the word "LORD" speaking in the Old Testament, it’s God the Son, but in His Old Testament role, as He spoke to the prophets. But here He’s speaking to Job.) and said, 2. Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?"

Now some would say, "Well, He’s referring to Job’s friends." Well I don’t think so. I think He’s referring to Job, because he’s proud and he thought he knew a lot. But you see, God is sort of putting Job in his place. So God says:

"Gird up now thy loins like a man; (in other words, let’s see Job if you can take it, because I’m going to show you how much wisdom you don’t have) for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me." See, God’s not talking to Job’s friends, but rather He’s talking to Job. Now read on.

Isn’t that something? Could Job answer? He didn’t know the first thing about it did he? He didn’t know where the world came from and how it was hung in space.

"…declare if thou hast understanding." Do you see where I’m getting the idea that the Lord is just pointing out Job’s pride, that he had nothing to be proud of?

Maybe most people don’t read that like I do, but I read that like, "Alright Job if you’re so smart, tell me these things I’m asking" And we know Job couldn’t! And today God could do the same thing with the most brilliant scientists. God could confront them with things that even though we have such tremendous technology, God could put them on the spot and just make them sweat like a butcher, couldn’t He?" They wouldn’t know the first thing He was talking about, so that’s what He’s doing here with Job. Now verse 7

"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (I can hear the Lord say, ‘Where were you Job? Can you explain it?) 8. Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?" Then come all the way over to verse 22.

"Hast thou entered into the treasures (or the secrets) of the snow?…"

What do you suppose God was talking about? That no two snow flakes are alike. "Did you know that Job?" So when you read about creation just go back and read Job chapters 38 and 39 and you’ll get a pretty good inkling of the amount of knowledge that most people do not have concerning the miracle and power of creation. Now coming back to Hebrews in our closing seconds we realize that God the Son was the One who had all this knowledge that Job knew nothing of. Now let’s read 10 again.

It might be a little bit rainy outside today, but you could never tell it in here. I mean, you all look like the very blossom of springtime, and we just thank you for putting forth the effort to be a part of this program. We always try to just teach the Word as we feel the Lord has opened it to us. Also, we feel that the Lord has put His stamp of approval on this ministry, by the countless numbers of letters and phone calls, and I guess the ones that thrill us the most are the ones that have found Salvation, and have come out of a life of darkness. And almost as exciting are the believers who, for the first time in their life, have dusted off that old Bible, and are studying it.

Now let’s go right back to where we left off in the last program, which was in Hebrews chapter 1, and we were down to verse 10. But I’m going to be periodically reminding our audience for the sake of those who may be just coming in, that the book of Hebrews, I feel is much more than a letter, but it was no doubt written by the Apostle Paul. He leaves his name off of it, and that’s understandable because the Jews of his day just detested him, because they thought he had become a renegade to their race and religion, so I’m sure that’s the reason he left his name off it. But I think the evidence is interior, as well as exterior that the Apostle Paul is the author of this book of Hebrews.

And as usual we always like to remind our class and our audience that you always want to first and foremost "determine to whom a portion of Scripture is addressed in its original setting." Now that does not mean that if it isn’t addressed to us that we ignore it. I’m always coming back to the portion of Scripture that says, "All Scripture is inspired of God." That means every word from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 is inspired by the Holy Spirit. It’s all the Word of God, and Paul says, "It’s profitable for reproof, and instruction in righteousness." But on the other hand we have to realize that some of the Scripture is not directed to us Gentiles, as such it was directed primarily to the Nation of Israel, so we always have to take those things into consideration.

For example when you start reading back there in the Old Testament some of the things pertaining to the sacrifices, and what those people had to do, well that doesn’t apply to us directly. We merely read those things as Paul says in Romans chapter 15, for our learning. In fact let’s look at that portion of Scripture. I think any time we study Old Testament and even the Four Gospels, and other portions of Scripture that were not written by the Apostle Paul, it’s for our learning and not our doctrine. And so this is appropriate even for this book of Hebrews, because it, like the Old Testament, was addressed to the Hebrew people, and not specifically the Body of Christ. But it’s still profitable, because it’s the Word of God, and because it’s the Word of God, there’s lots of good things in it for our learning. So, I always like to use this verse to get the Apostle Paul’s admonition for us to study the parts of Scripture that he didn’t write. And look what he says:

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime (before he came along) were written for our learning,…"

Notice it says for learning not our doctrine! Like I said when we introduced Hebrews in our last taping, you won’t find a Roman road to Salvation in the book of Hebrews, and you won’t find a lot of the instructions for the Gentile Body of Christ in Hebrews, but it’s loaded with things that enhance our learning. So now finishing this verse.

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we (as Grace Age believers, we as predominately a Gentile called-out people), through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."

Now, when I read this verse, the first Old Testament personality that comes to my mind is Joseph. That young man was hated by his brethren, sold into slavery, taken into a foreign country, and sold again as a slave, and even though he had come out pretty good (working for his Egyptian master), and you know the account of how his masters wife turned on Joseph, and accused him falsely, consequently, Joseph ends up in the dungeon. As near as I can figure it out he was down in that dungeon for 8 or 10 years. Now a lot of people would have given up hope, and would have said, "Well, God has forgotten all about me," but Joseph didn’t do that.

And all of a sudden Joseph comes out of that dungeon and becomes the second man in Egypt, and why? Because, as he told his brethren when they finally came together in Egypt, "You didn’t do it, but rather God did." So that’s where we can take comfort from the Scripture, that even when bad things happen, we know that God is in control. And sooner or later we’re going to be able to look back on those bad things and see that God was in it as His purposes were being fulfilled. And I think that’s exactly what this verse means. We go back to the Old Testament writers, and we can pick up all of these things that were written, not for our doctrine, as you won’t find the plan of Salvation per se, but oh, we can see how God works in the lives of His people. So always keep that in mind even as study this book of Hebrews. The whole book of Hebrews is written primarily to Jewish people, to prove to them that this Jesus of Nazareth, whom most of them rejected in unbelief saying, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" And yet this book of Hebrews is proving that Christ, the Son of God, was better than anything that had come before. And as I’ve told you before, always look for that word "better" throughout the Book.

We saw that word "better" as we started in our study of Hebrews last week in verse 4, and we might look at that again. This is speaking of the One who purged our sins, and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high:

So we’ll be looking for that word as we teach the book of Hebrews, how that the apostle is proving to these Jews, Who Jesus is. Even today we hear it constantly, when people have been ingrained in a cult, and you know the cults have a way of just simply brain washing people. And here people have been in a cult for maybe 40, 50, 60, or even 70 years, and then the Lord begins to show them the truth of this beautiful Gospel of Grace, and they begin to grasp it, but yet there is that constant nagging, that pull, with the thought, "What if I was right and this is wrong?" So most have that constant pull to go back into that which they had drummed into them for a lifetime.

Well you see these people to whom Paul was writing were in that same set of circumstances. They’ve been steeped in Judaism since way back in the days of Moses. They’ve been in Judaism and Law-keeping as a nation of people throughout their whole lifetime, and now, to suddenly have this brought before them; that they were to turn their back on all that, because they’re no longer under the Law, but that God the Son had now finished the work of redemption, and faith alone is all that’s needed. So you can see where a change to that would be tough. Just watch for that flavor throughout the book of Hebrews. These Jews are trying to be pulled back into that, which up front, they can see is now behind them.

So the whole purpose of this first chapter is to show the glory and majesty, and the Godheadship of this Jesus of Nazareth Who we now call the Son. I think, as I pointed out in our last taping, in the first two verses of this chapter that we have to make people realize that Christ is not the Son of God by virtue of God siring Him, and bringing about His birth at Bethlehem. See, that’s not what the term means at all, because the term is a place of preeminence. Father and Son and Holy Spirit are co-equal. So we’ll be emphasizing that the Son is preeminent. He is God, and has been from eternity past, and will be into all eternity future. So today let’s just pick up in verse 10 of Hebrews chapter 1 for just a little bit.

"And, Thou, Lord, (speaking to the Son) in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:"

Now those of you who were with us in our last taping, will remember that in my closing few minutes of the program, I took you back to Job chapter 38, and we rehearsed how that God put Job on the spot, and said, "Job where were you, when I laid the foundations of the world? Where were you when I confined the waters of the seas," and time ran out and we had to close. But now I’m going to carry you a little further into the Old Testament account in Psalms chapter 104, and I find it amazing how many times the writer of Hebrews uses the Psalms to back up what he’s saying. Here we have another record of creation from David the Psalmist. Oh listen, I think every Christian ought to read this once a week and just be reminded of how great our God, our Christ, our Saviour, the Head of the Body, really is because He’s the One that did it. We’ll just look at a few of them, we won’t take it verse by verse. So let’s just start with verse 1. I mean this is just good reading.

I got a kick out of a letter we received some time ago, where they wrote, "We certainly enjoy your television program of Bible reading." Well that didn’t bother me a bit, because I do spend most of the time reading. But also as we read we realize that people are seeing things that they never saw before, so I make no apology for that.

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, O LORD my God, thou art very great: thou art clothed with honour and majesty. 2. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: 3. Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: 4. Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:" And we’ll be looking at that more a little later. Now speaking of the Creator God, the Son:

"Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. 6. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains." And of course we go back to Genesis 1:2 for that:

"…And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Now back to Psalms 104, and drop down to verse 7.

You know what I always like to tell people about the country? We’re so blasé about a lot of things, for example when you drive through the countryside, and you come to these mountains and rivers, do you ever just stop and think, "Now imagine, God created the surface of the planet in such a way that all the water finds its way sooner or later back to the sea, with rare exceptions. The exceptions would be probably, the Great Salt Lakes, and the Dead Sea, but for the most part the whole planet as the rain and snow falls, sooner or later it’s going to find its way back to the sea. Well, was that an accident that happens? Heavens no! That’s the way the Creator planned, and that’s what the Psalmist is saying in verse 8.

"They (the waters) go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them." (back to the ocean). That’s just plain ole geography. Now let’s drop on down to verse 10.

Do you see how God provided for everything? Just think about it as you drive wherever you go, just stop and think, "The Creator planned it all for mankind’s good." We’re not going to have time to look at it here, but the book of Isaiah says, "The world was created to be inhabited." Well by whom? By all His created beings, not just men, but for all the animals, fish, birds and reptiles as well, at His command. Now let’s read on in verse 12.

Is that mundane? Yeah, but Who was behind it all? The Creator, The Son! So every time you drive by a pasture of cattle just think, "The grass they’re eating, the Creator planned it that way." Now verse 15.

"And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart. 16. The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted; 17. Where birds make their nest: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house." And on and on you can read about the Son’s creation. Let’s look at a few more here in Psalms chapter 4. These are just too good.

Now what does that tell you? I’ve been stressing now for the past several programs, that God the Son was the Creator. He’s the One that spoke and things began to happen, but this verse tells us that it was the Spirit that carried it out. So yes, God the Father was in agreement with it, God the Son spoke it, and God the Spirit sent it forth. Now verse 31.

So everything is under His control. Now let’s go all the way up to the New Testament and see how the Apostle Paul addresses the intellectual snobs in Athens. And that’s what they were. My, they thought they were so smart. They thought that old Paul was just a babbler. So turn to Acts chapter 17, where he addresses these Athenian intellectual philosophers. And let’s just drop in at verse 22. I want you to remember now what we just read back in the Psalms, and what God said to Job. All of this fits together.

"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, (their worship of their pagan gods and goddesses) I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, (Just in case there’s one they didn’t know about) him declare I unto you." Now here it comes in verse 24. This is Paul’s agreement with Psalms chapter 104.

What does that mean? Just exactly what it says. The food you eat even here in 2001 AD, Who provided it? The Creator! All the things you enjoy, and the clothes on our back, who provided it? The Creator! The roof over your head, who provided it? The Creator! See, this is what God wants us to understand, that He is the provider of everything, and not just to the believing world, but the whole world. And Paul is even telling these pagan Athenians that God had provided everything they needed, and they didn’t know. Well I guess that’s far enough in the book of Acts, so coming back now to the book of Hebrews.

So everything that has been made, everything up in the heavens and on the earth are the works of His hands. We don’t have much time left in this lesson, and I doubt I’ll be able to finish my next thought, but we’re going drop down into verse 11, and take just the first three words. That’s the way I like to study Scripture.

Everything that God has created, everything that God has made for man’s use and privileges and for his comfort, one day it’s all going to disappear! "They shall perish;..." Now in the moment or two we have left, I want to take you back in your mind, especially those of you who studied with me years ago back in the book of Genesis, about the creation. Remember I went back and correlated the Biblical account of creation with the first two laws of science, do you remember what they were? They’re called the two laws of thermodynamics. The laws of heat and energy. Well the first law of thermodynamics says in plain English: "There is now nothing else being created." Now that’s your first law of heat and energy. And that’s the law that functioned while Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. There were no deaths and everything was set for all eternity. They could have lived there forever if they had not sinned.

You know I just wrote someone the other day, that when God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden, that they could have lived there forever. There was no stipulation. But of course what Adam and Eve didn’t know, and God did, was that Adam would sin and end that glorious habitation in the Garden of Eden. But until Adam sinned the first law of thermodynamics was in full control. Everything that was needed to carry everything on and its purposes was completed, and nothing more was needed and it could go forever.

We’ll have to pick this thought up in the next program. But as soon as Adam sinned, what came in? Death! And now when you have death in the picture, the second law of thermodynamics kicks in, and that laws says, "That even though nothing more is being created, yet everything that has been created is constantly going into a less useable state." And science calls that entropy. What does that mean? Everything is in the process of dying. You and I are in that process - at the moment we’re born, we start dying. And that applies to everything on the planet. The moment they’re born, the seeds of death are already working, and that’s not only for the animal world, but also for the non-animal world. In other words, just as soon as a tree falls in the forest, it begins to rot; it just simply goes back to the dust it came from. So just be thinking about that until we get to the next lesson.

Now as we continue our study in the book of Hebrews, you’ll remember I’ve been stressing that Hebrews is written by the Apostle Paul, but he didn’t put his name to it because he knew the Jews had a bad taste in their mouth with what he had done with their religious system. He had turned his back on their system and was now contrary to what they thought of in the keeping of the Law.

But we feel that he is the writer, and the evidence is quite insurmountable that he is the writer. And he’s addressing this Book to Jewish people who are having a hard time overcoming the pull of Judaism, and were having a hard time stepping out of the Law and the ramifications of it, and simply trusting that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the King of glory, and to believe that He’s the Son, and the One Who satisfied all the demands of a Holy God by simply putting their trust in Him.

So, in this first chapter of Hebrews we’re seeing Christ elevated to a place high above the angels. He’s the Creator of everything and the sustainer, even as Paul writes in the book of Colossians. Now we’ve been seeing in the last couple of verses how indeed He was the One Who created everything and then in the last part of the last program we saw that all of this glorious creation is hearing the death knell. His glorious creation is all going to pass off the scene and be replaced by a new heaven and a new earth.

Remember at the close of the last lesson, we left off with scientific laws of thermodynamics. And we saw that the second law of thermodynamics kicked in the moment that Adam sinned, because with sin came death. So the whole creation is under the death knell. Everything is moving closer and closer to oblivion. Now the average individual on the planet probably never thinks about that. But everything on the planet is going into a less useable state. Even our fossil fuels, as they pump those billions and billions of barrels of oil out of the Middle East, it’s not being replaced, it’s not a replaceable energy source, but rather it’s going to one day run out.

And it’s the same way with everything in creation, as it is constantly moving into a less useable state. And even we in this body of flesh, as I said in the last program, from the day we’re born, death begins. It doesn’t matter whether we live to be 10 or 70 or 100, that’s beside the point; death is our final end, short of the Rapture of the Church. So the whole creation is under that same set of circumstances. It is moving closer and closer to the time when it will finally be exchanged for something totally new. Now let’s back that up with some Scripture.

"They shall perish; (all the things God has created) but thou (the Creator) remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;" My, what a beautiful illustration. Now a garment doesn’t wear out overnight. That’s something that is accomplished over a process of time, and so is creation. As the eons of time are going by, everything is in entropy, it’s all going into a less useable state, until finally God will undo the whole thing. Now verse 12, and using that same word: garment, or a vesture or piece of clothing:

"And as a vesture shalt thou (the Creator) fold them up, and they shall be changed: (I think a cleare